PRC media blames Syrian rebels for Xinjiang unrest

SABOTAGE:A state-run tabloid quoted an alleged terrorist as saying that the East Turkestan Islamic movement specifically requested him to enhance the ‘struggle level’ in Xinjiang

Reuters, BEIJING

A Chinese policeman keeps watch on Friday last week as paramilitary police prepare to ride in armored vehicles during a “show of force” ceremony in Urumqi after a series of attacks in the Xinjiang region that China has labeled as “terrorist.”

Photo: AFP

Chinese state media yesterday blamed Syrian opposition forces in unusually specific finger pointing for training Muslim extremists responsible for the deadliest unrest in four years in China’s far-western region of Xinjiang.

China has traditionally blamed violence in Xinjiang, home to Muslim Uighurs, on Islamic separatists who want to establish an independent state of “East Turkestan.”

This appears to mark the first time Beijing has blamed a group in Syria and fits a common narrative of the government portraying Xinjiang’s violence as coming from abroad, such as Pakistan, and not due to homegrown anger.

Many Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang resent what they call Chinese government restrictions on their culture, language and religion. Beijing accuses extremists of separatism.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) presided over a forum in Beijing on Saturday on maintaining stability in Xinjiang.

Paramilitary police have flooded the streets of the regional capital, Urumqi, after 35 people were killed in two attacks last week, which China has blamed on a gang engaged in “religious extremist activities.”

The government has not identified the ethnicity of the attackers, but it said a man called Ahmatniyaz Siddiq, ostensibly a Muslim Uighur, and others “were engaged in religious extremist activities.”

The Global Times, a tabloid owned by the Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, said that some members of the “East Turkestan” faction had moved from Turkey into Syria.

“This Global Times reporter has recently exclusively learned from the Chinese anti-terrorism authorities that since last year, some members of the ‘East Turkestan’ faction have entered Syria from Turkey, participated in extremist, religious and terrorist organizations within the Syrian opposition forces and fought against the Syrian army,” the newspaper said.

“At the same time, these elements from ‘East Turkestan’ have identified candidates to sneak in to Chinese territory to plan and execute terrorist attacks,” it added.

Authorities had arrested a 23-year-old “terrorist,” known in Chinese as Maimaiti Aili, belonging to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), the report said, adding that he had taken part in the Syrian war.

The Global Times quoted a statement from Maimaiti Aili as saying that the ETIM “specifically asked me to carry out sabotage activities in Xinjiang and enhance the ‘struggle level.’”

Officials in Xinjiang and the Chinese Ministry of Public Security were not immediately available for comment.

The report by the Global Times follows attempts by China to take a more proactive role in solving the crisis in Syria.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has been keen to show it is not taking sides and has urged the Syrian government to talk to the opposition.

Police in Xinjiang have detained 19 people for spreading online rumors that triggered the attack on Wednesday last week in northern Shanshan County, state media said yesterday.

The increased security comes four days before the fourth anniversary of the July 2009 riots in Xinjiang that pitted Uighurs against ethnic Chinese, resulting in nearly 200 people being killed.

Xinjiang sits next to south and central Asia, and China sees it as a vital bulwark in this volatile part of the world, making it all the more jumpy about unrest.